Hannibal Pics and News From Across the Web

As the production of Hannibal continues full steam, images from the production are beginning to pop up on the web. Here's a rundown of some places to hit for a peak at what's going on with the movie.

On Monday, the guys over at Fetal Films posted an absolutely stunning production sketch of the film's villain, Mason Verger (a small version seen at right, head on over to Fetal Films for a larger version). From the looks of it, the Hannibal team is going all-out to exactly match the film Verger (being played by Gary Oldman) to the grotesque portrait author Thomas Harris gave readers in the novel.

In other photo news, a French language Hannibal site has a wonderful collection of pictures from the production, both in Europe and the U.S. Be sure to check out the photos of Hopkins, who looks to be having a great time resuming his most famous role.

Also, on TNMC's Good Movie News, a story yesterday reported that local controversy has sprung up around the production in Virginia. The story relates criticisms of the production from the Virginia Alliance for the Mentally Ill, as well as from a Baptist minister, who is quoted as saying that the money the film is bringing to the area is "bad money. To me this would be comparable to the lottery. The lottery's bad money. I think when you look at the whole picture here, no pun intended, it's not a good thing." There's also a quote from Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore defending the production's presence in Virginia. Reportedly, no one involved in the production commented on the criticisms.

Stay tuned for more Hannibal news as it comes in, and many thanks to these sites for the info.